Section 2: Overview 2 Hours

TOPIC: OVERVIEW

For example, juveniles do not seem as likely as adults to have “fixed” or “exclusive” patterns
of deviant sexual interests, preferences, or arousal. What this means is
that some adult sex offenders appear to have rather well–established patterns
of being particularly interested in or “turned on” sexually by
inappropriate contacts. Being primarily attracted to or focused on young
children is a key example, such as adults who are diagnosed with pedophilia.
With those adults, deviant sexual interests, arousal patterns, or preferences
can be fairly easily identified. With many juvenile sex offenders, this does
not appear to be the case. This is in part a function of the period of adolescence,
when sexuality is emerging, evolving, and dynamic. So juveniles’ sexual
interests and preferences may not be fully formed or established yet, and
measuring sexual interest or arousal reliably may be more challenging during
this developmental period.18

It is important to be aware of this important difference because deviant
sexual arousal and interests are significantly correlated with recidivism
for adults.19But
because these sexual deviancy variables do not seem to be as prevalent among
juveniles, it still remains a question as to whether deviant arousal or interests
are a driving factor that “cause” juveniles to begin engaging
in this behavior in the first place. These factors do, however, seem to be
associated with sexual re–offending among youth.20 But
again, that doesn’t mean that most youth have problems is this area,
nor does it mean that deviant arousal is a primary reason that most youth
commit sex offenses.

Another important difference between juvenile and adult sex offenders that
seems to be a function of these youths’ developmental status is that
of psychopathy. Psychopathy is a construct that is used to describe individuals
who show longstanding problematic behavioral patterns and negative character
traits that include a parasitic lifestyle, repeatedly lying to and using
others, an inability (or unwillingness) to be empathic or remorseful, impulsive
behaviors, extreme narcissism, shallow emotions, and superficial charm that
tends to hide many of these negative qualities.21

As you can imagine, the presence of psychopathy is strongly related to criminal
behavior, and it significantly predicts both sexual and violent recidivism
among adults.22 It
is generally recognized that psychopathy can be reliably identified in adults,
but there is debate and controversy about whether or not it is an appropriate
construct to be applied to juveniles.23 Many
believe that psychopathic traits and patterns probably begin during adolescence
and, of course, some of the defining “traits” are observable
in youthful populations.24

At the same time, some of these features, such as impulsivity, unstable
emotions, empathy deficits, and narcissism are fairly characteristic of adolescence.
So the common presence of these traits in youth clouds the picture, making
it more difficult to be certain about the identification of juvenile psychopathy.
A juvenile may show some of these characteristics, but they may be fleeting,
and they may simply mature and “grow out of” some of these ways
of interacting or behaving. And we should be careful about assigning that
kind of label prematurely.

Nonetheless, a small subset of adolescents do in fact demonstrate considerable
psychopathic traits, and they continue to show these patterns over time—and
especially as they enter young adulthood—we are better able to accurately
confirm its existence. And researchers who have examined psychopathic traits
among youth have found that these characteristics are correlated with violence
and aggression.25 Psychopathic
traits in juvenile sex offenders specifically have also been found to be
correlated with general recidivism.26

The bottom line is that we have no sound reason to believe that psychopathy
is as common among juvenile sex offenders as it is with adult sex offenders.
Much more research needs to be conducted with respect to psychopathy among
youth, including those who commit sex offenses.

Since I’ve just mentioned impulsivity, let’s talk about it in
terms of juvenile versus adult sex offenders.

If you look back at your own behaviors as a teenager, or if any of have
you have or had teenagers of your own, it won’t come as much surprise
to you that impulsive behaviors are fairly common among adolescents. Adolescents
don’t always carefully think things through before they act, do they?
And they don’t always think about the ramifications of their behaviors,
do they?

(ALLOW FOR AUDIENCE RESPONSES.)

So, consistent with what we know about adolescents in general, juveniles
who commit sex offenses are prone to showing impulsive and opportunistic
tendencies as well.

I have another question: Has anyone ever heard a sex offender say that their
offense “just happened?”

(ALLOW FOR AUDIENCE RESPONSES.)

That’s right. Some sex offenders, at least early on in treatment,
will maintain that they didn’t really think about, fantasize about,
or plan their offenses. But as I mentioned earlier, experts have found that
in most instances, people who commit sex offenses do engage in fantasizing,
planning, and grooming, and that for some offenders, their offenses follow
a fairly predictable pattern of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.27 Certainly,
then, it is fairly evident that most sex offenses do not truly “just
happen.”

However, because they are adolescents, impulsive and opportunistic offending
behaviors among sexually abusive youth may in fact be more common, at least
in comparison to adult sex offenders.

This does not mean that youthful sex offenders don’t plan their offenses,
engage in grooming behaviors, or think about or fantasize about these behaviors
beforehand. Quite the contrary. It simply means that, much like adolescents
in general, youth who commit sex offenses tend to have difficulties with
thinking carefully about the consequences of their behaviors before they
act. And in some ways, during the period of adolescence, part of that can
be a function of brain development.28 For
example, the frontal lobe—the part of the brain that is responsible
for emotional and behavioral regulation, and for reasoning and problem solving—does
not fully mature until adulthood. In addition, brain development can be further
impacted by trauma, which can lead to further difficulties with their ability
to effectively manage their emotions and behaviors. And we know that emotional
and behavioral regulation, reasoning, and problem solving are important for
making a successful transition from adolescence to adulthood.

Impulsivity isn’t an excuse for their offending behaviors, and it
definitely doesn’t fully explain why they do what they do. But we need
to remember this and other developmental variables when we approach our work
with these youth.

Another important difference between adults and juveniles who commit sex
offenses involves the importance of environmental factors.

As you may know, research on juvenile delinquency and youth violence indicates
that we have to take into account multiple determinants beyond the individual
youth.29 In
other words, we have to consider the influence of environmental variables
such as peers, family, school, and the neighborhood or community. This differs
pretty significantly from how we commonly think about adult sex offenders,
doesn’t it?

It doesn’t mean that environmental issues are not at all important
with adults. Rather, we know that these factors are especially critical for
youth. For example, research suggests that exposure to violence within the
home or community, exposure to aggressive role models, and exposure to pornography
may be associated with the development of sexually abusive behaviors in youth.

And traumatic experiences such as sexual victimization may also be related
to sex offending behaviors in youth.30

Keep in mind that being victimized doesn’t cause people to commit
sex offenses. In fact, most victims do not go on to commit sex offenses.31 Despite decades of research on the relationship between a history of sexual victimization
and sex offending among adult sex offenders, no significant or consistent
link has emerged. But there does appear to be some kind of link between sexual
abuse and juvenile–perpetrated sex offenses.

Some researchers have found that this may be particularly true for juvenile
sex offenders who were sexually abused at an early age, by older males outside
the family, who were abused multiple times, experienced more intrusive abusive
acts, and delayed disclosures of their abuse. 32

Finally, a very important difference that has been identified is that juvenile
sex offenders—as a group—appear to have better treatment outcomes
and lower recidivism rates than adult sex offenders overall.33
This may not come as a surprise to many of you. In fact, many professionals feel
more optimistic about working with youth because they are believed to be
more malleable and more amenable to change than adults, who tend to have
more entrenched patterns of thinking and behaving.